http://tags.library.upenn.edu/tag/NYTimes+astana PennTags Feed http://tags.library.upenn.edu/makerecord/url/10706 http://tags.library.upenn.edu/makerecord/url/10706 <p>Astana Journal<br />Kazakhstan&rsquo;s Futuristic Capital, Complete With Pyramid<br />By STEVEN LEE MYERS<br />Published: October 13, 2006<br />Other countries have built futuristic capitals in remote outposts, Bras&iacute;lia most famously, and other cities have experienced feverish, transformational construction, like Dubai or even the imperial capital that once ruled Kazakhstan: Moscow.&nbsp; But none have sprung up quite like Astana, from the ambition to create not only a national capital but also a national identity shaped almost exclusively by a single man: the country&rsquo;s president since its inception, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev.&nbsp; &ldquo;The chief architect is really the president himself,&rdquo; Yerzhan N. Ashykbayev, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said at the ministry&rsquo;s new building, which opened in April 2005. &ldquo;Every project, every building is approved by him.&rdquo;<br />&nbsp;</p><p><img width="283" height="188" border="0" title="Kazakhstan" alt="Kazakhstan" src="http://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/2006/10/12/world/13astana_slide6.650.jpg" /></p>